P2: Tv Drama

 Tuesday 11 January 2022

Lesson 1

2 Essay questions:

1. a longer comparative 30 mark question where you will have to apply academic concepts to your two case studies.

2. a shorter 10 mark question where you will have to connect your case studies to a particular theory you studied. 

Long form tv drama is the narrative of the drama is extended into multiple episodes, the use of multiple episodes, it explains the story more clearly and helps the audiences understand the narrative of the story. Nowadays, Tv dramas have 10 episodes with each episode being close to an hour long, the use of longer episodes it explains the characters, story, setting and much more clear to the audiences.

Stranger things flex narrative

The flex narrative in Stranger Things is that the main characters in the storyline develop their characteristics throughout the show with each character having a plot in the storyline. For example, Eleven is one of the characters that progressively developed their personality throughout the show,  as the beginning of the show we don't know anything about Eleven but throughout the storyline, we find out her back story and she then becomes the important character in the Show. Her special powers is one of the things that develops the character throughout the storyline and gives her the special role in the Show.

Homeland

season 1:

The first season of homeland follows one of the main characters of the show, carrie mathison, a CIA operation officer who believes that one of the marine sergeant, Nicholas Brody was turned by the enemies and now poses a significant risk to national security.  The first season consisted of 12 episodes with each episode an hour long, this is one of the Long Form dramas as throughout the first season we find out each characters personality and we see it change through other seasons.  

Cast:

Carrie Mathison - CIA operation officer

Crack CIA agent Carrie Mathison plays by her own rules when it comes to protecting the US from terrorist attacks. Her uncanny intuition, dogged determination, and gift for persuasion have helped her convert allies, thwart plots, and take out terrorists, often using controversial methods that are uniquely her own. 

Nicholas Brody - Marine Sergeant 

Saul Berenson - CIA Vet who is also Carrie Mathisons mentor

Tuesday 18 January 2022

Season 1, Episode 1

L/O: to explore the narrative, theme and characters in set episode

Narrative:

Main narrative - return of Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody who was a prisoner of war.

Enigma Code - Brody could possible be terrorist or could be helping terrorist as a spy.

Theme:

Terrorism - could link to 9/11

Action

Drama

Characters:

Nicholas Brody - Dealing with trauma after being tortured by a life threatening terrorist, gets his family back together after being presumed as dead.  

Carrie Mathison - She is trying to expose Brody as a spy with a life threatening terrorist, she is also dealing with mental health issues , she is also fighting wit the higher ups who is silenced, she is fighting to get her message across.

Jess - Brody's wife is having an affair with Brody's best mate, she is trying to be a good mum.

Todorov theory

Todorov theory refers to the narrative and the structure of it, he claims that every narrative begins with an equilibrium and then a disruption and ends with a different equilibrium.  Equilibrium is the state of how the narrative should be ( Main character is living a normal life ), disruption is the change of the Equilibrium this could be one of the main character could turn into a villain or something life threatening is about to happen.

This scheme follows like a story line, The beginning is the character living a normal life, climax could be something bad like a life threatening villain, ending is the where everything is solved and the villain is defeated. 

Neale theory

Neale's theory talks about genres, what they are, how they are made, and what is the cause of a genre to films. Neale argues that producers and actors use different code conventions to specify a genre ( For example, An action film will have violence, car chase and it creates a tense tone to the film, this way producers would use similar conventions to show the genre ). Neale talks about how genre are evolving every decade with each genre being different from the previous one, this allows different code conventions used to present a genre.   

Tuesday 25 January 2022

Homeland: Industry & Context

L/O: to explore the production, social & political context of set products.

Political Context

9/11 terrorist attack - On Tuesday 11th September 2011, one of the worst terrorist attack was recorded in History, almost 3000 people died and 25000 injured. The attack was planned by Osama bin Laden, he is well known as one of the most dangerous terrorist in the world, the main objective for Osama Bin Laden was to create a war with United States and lead to destruction to America. 9/11 was a planted attack against America which created a massive impact in America's History, The 2 planes which caused a lot of damaged to New York were both Hijacked with 5 planes hijacked with a purpose to cause as much damaged to Americas Economy, the first 2 planes attack the two world trade centre building causing the most casualties as well it was bait for the other planes to crash in their planes into bigger and more impacted buildings such as the pentagon and the White house. The Damaged costed in total $10 billion which caused a massive impact to New Yorks ( as well as Americas ) to Economy.  

How has Homeland tapped into post 9/11 themes and anxieties 10 years on?

The 9/11 Attack caused a huge impact in America and after decades after the attack this caused a huge impact in americas society and economy, This lead to tighter security and much more safer america, The 9/11 was a unpredicted attack this links to the idea that america had to recover much longer. Homeland is one of the shows that could link to the idea that media would always talk about 9/11 as this caused a more of a serious and much more public idea to Terrorism and Attacks. The small references to 9/11 such as the main character in Homeland says " i missed something important ", linking to the fact that the attack was unpredictable attack. 

How important is the 9/11 context to Homeland as a media text?

The 9/11 attack was a terrorist attack which lead to Homeland having enemies who are part of a Terrorist organisation, The real contexts such as Terrorism and small references to 9/11 is used to show how much the attack caused Americas Economy. Homeland linked to one of conspiracy theory, the attack was planned by President Bush and although the theory was wrong, the real contexts could link to the fact that some of the people who were part of the attack lived in America and took Flight lessons linking. Also the 9/11 attack showed success in Homeland as they mainly focused on terrorism and how they showed how Strong America is even if they are against the Odds which showed a positive idea of America overcoming 9/11 as a whole but could be different to people who lost people or who was part and survived the attack. 9/11 also created the fear in the country, the attack left America more aware of their security as well as this left America in Anxiety.

Tuesday 1 February 2022 

Homeland: Characters

L/O: To explore the narrative and characterisation in set products 

Carrie Mathison - Opening scene of Homeland

Confident - First scene is set in the capital of Iraq, The city is dangerous and we see she is anxious through the quick transition of the citizens, linking to the post 9/11 america as they were more anxious of the middle east. 

Brave - she is talking to a Bomb maker who works for terrorist but was caught and was sentence to death with his Execution happening early.

Driven - After the guards are alert, her time to investigate the Bomb Maker is Shorten, The guards appear but that doesn't let her stop to get her information on a possible attack.

Bold - The senior who let Carrie in the prison has alerted her to get out as the guards have found out, she doesn't listen to the senior who warned her to get out.

Lacks fear - The Bomb maker is in a secure prison, she pays one of the guards to let her in to see the Bomb Maker, Previous Medium shot of the prison could emphasis the danger of the prison

Manipulative - She is Manipulative through the dialogue, when she is talking to the Bomb Maker her tone is more soft, cold and scared whereas when she is talking to the agent she is more serious, confident tone.

Isolated - Carrie is In the capital of Iraq, Baghdad which is known to be a dangerous place, she is appeared to have no backup and she is alone to get the information from the Bomb Maker

In Control - When the Guards are closing in on her, the senior is warning her to get out before she gets caught, she ignores the seniors and she stick to the plan to get the information.

Scene 2

Slow and smooth transition of her house could indicate the sense of peace and safety

She is a household wife but she breaks the stereotype of the generic Household wife:

• She is alone
• She take the ring off giving the lack of important to the object
• Her house is disorganised and her house is filled with pictures of terror sit
• She is more dedicated to her work as she is focused on Terrorist  

some other points in the 2nd scene

Carrie mathison is the main protagonist in Homeland and she is represented to be brave, confident and in control in the First episode of Homeland. The first scene starts in the capital of Iraq, Baghdad where she is tracking a Bomb Maker who works for terrorist to gather any intel on her target. Baghdad is one of the dangerous cites as they have different political beliefs to Others, One way this could link to Carrie being brave and confident is when she is talking to the Agent for support, her tone towards the agent is more aggressive and more informal, this could indicate how confident she is towards the higher ups and she breaks the typical stereotypes of men being in control of the situations. Women are stereotyped to listen to men and agree to their beliefs, Carrie breaks this stereotypes as she is disagreeing to the agent and is arguing with the higher up. This can be linked to the Feminist theory by Van Zoon as the theory refers to Masculinity and feminism, these both genders are constructed through their roles, The media is controlled by the dominated group so the idea of men being superior is around the media, However in Homeland we see that the main character is a female who is strong, independent and intelligent breaking the generic male hero. 

Tuesday 15th February 2022

Lesson 5: Part two Brody

L/O: to explore the narrative and characterisation in set products

Representations of Brody as both a possible hero and a possible villain? 

Brody

Hero:

- Rescue: Brody was rescued by soldiers and he looked scared 

- Scars + Appearance: Brody's scars looks serious rather than planned

Villain:

- Dialogue mentions the word Turned that grabs Carries suspicion to Brody 

- Source 

- Suspicion is acknowledge  

How does the trailer create doubt in the heroic nature of Carrie's character?

Carrie

Doubt as a hero

- Desperate

- Suspicious

1a. 

Morally - no privacy - distrust the state - Carrie doubtful hero

Scars - serious scars, tortured - His reactions to Jess - jumps, - Jess' reaction to his scars - Physical 

Sex scene Jess + Brody - closeups of both the face shows emotion, The scene is caught of guard when Jess sees Brody's Scars on his back which breaks the relationship these are the results of a POW ( prisoner of war )

1b. During the sex Scene, Carrie takes her headset off and looks away - no sense of Privacy which shows the disrespect of the surveillance 

ideologies of Surveillance are negative - not useful + invasive - social and cultural context.

2. Distrust Brody - emotionless, cold

Impact of the lore of society - broken, fearful, no trust

Reject war hero role - disconnected / cold

3. Tortured - shows him as a victim, question as an audience character motives. 

Compare and contrast the techniques used to represent Nicholas Brody in Episode 1 of Homeland

In contrast to the initial representation of Brody as a hero, the audience see him develop elements of a villain.

This is seen in the scene of when Carrie interviews Brody and their first altercation, Carrie has suspicion of Brody to be a villain, She is seen to be a possible hero / villain as Brody is questioned to be a villain, The merge of suspicion is set to create tension between both character. However, during the interview our suspicion of both character is closely drawn at Brody as his answers to Carries questions are rather false / Not true. The use of an editing technique (Flashbacks) are also used to create suspicion on Brody as his answers does not link to the flashbacks and further emphasises our suspicion on Brody being a possible villain.  The suspicion of a possible spy could link to the post events of 9/11, this created suspicion on every american being a possible spy or/and terrorist, Homeland emphasises this idea as the audience are suspicious of Brody, and it could be seen in his answer when Carrie Interviews Brody to not be true or suspicious. 

Tuesday 1st March 2022

Homeland: Representation

L/O: to explore the representation in set products

Carrie's Mental health: 

Historical - 9/11

Political - 9/11, still an issue

Social - mental health

Cultural - medication 

How is Carrie's mental health represented in this clip? represented in a negative way

Unstable : pills + music, quick shaky close-ups emphasise instability , indecisive - clothes, editing

PTSD - Tied to 9/11

 Turning to alcohol as a relief

bi-polar - her amazing investigation skills could be the opposite of how she feels outside her work - unstable and struggling with mental illnesses and her destructive behaviour towards helping out her illness could link to the bi-polar affect to Carrie's character.

What is she doing? Why?

Twitchy, loud music - reflect the noise in her head

Raking her hair with her hands could link to her panic attack

How does she try to control herself? 

Drugs - pills to help her calm down music, out drinking, destructive behaviour 

Positive representation of mental health

Attention to detail - hand movements- Brodie 

not letting go - Brodie as guilty

being suspicions - Brodie as guilty, protects the country 

Close-up- Carrie cuts to close-ups of the Jazz band playing, as the camera slowing pans to the hand and the movement of it, we see a similar movement in Brodie's hand movement - could be a secret message

American Family Ideology/The American Dream in Homeland  

The traditional American Family:

The traditional American family has classically been understood as the Nuclear family, a heterosexual marriage (a male and a female marriage) with extended family living separately . The structure of the Nuclear family was firstly introduced in the 1950s, this was during the soviet union when the idea of the Nuclear family became common around the world. The role of each family member consisted of: the wife doing the household chores such as cooking, cleaning etc, the husband being the man of the house who takes charge of everything and the children getting support from both parents. During the 1950s, the representations of the family member roles was used to help construct the generic stereotypes of each genders and family members. The characteristics of a traditional American family could be :

• Opposition to pre-marital sex
• Opposition to same-sex marriage
• Belief in traditional home-based roles for women
• Belief in Christian-based values
• Opposition to some elements of feminism
• Opposition to abortion while actively supporting abstinence education
• Belief in adoption as an alternative to abortion
• Belief in programs and public policies that shield children from exploitation
• Opposition to separation of church and state
• Belief in father as head-of-household

The nuclear family can be seen in homeland, this can be linked to the common rates of a hertrosexual family compared to other family like ( Same sex marriage, single parent, Childless Families, Step Families. Grandparent Families, Unconventional Families ). Brody's family is a perfect example to the Nuclear family, with Jessica Brody continuing with the 1950s expected roles such as doing the household chores, Nicholas Brody doing the hard job and the two children getting supported from both parents. Homeland continues with the traditional ideologies of an American family, However, what's different in homeland, is how they break the Nuclear family to show how unstable it really is and how they present that instability in Brody's family. Some of the examples of the unstable Brody's family is: Jessica Brody (wife) having an affair with Nicholas best friend, Dana Brody a doing drugs with her friends, this family can emphasise the fall of the Nuclear family.

The American Dream:

The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, as well as an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers. The idea of freedom comes from wars and the sacrifice of soldiers to provide peace and freedom to American. This American Dream can link to Homeland as they emphasise the idea of peace and freedom throughout the series. This can also be further emphasise the American dream as in Homeland, the main character Carrie mathison is tracking Terrorist and enemies who pose a threat to American. an example could be a real historical event known as 9/11 terrorist attack, as this attack left America in shock for a really long time, Homeland focuses on the 9/11 attack as well as the idea of terrorism and uses these ideas to show the obstacles the American dream face, fighting for Americans freedom.   

Gender representation ( Freya )

Gender representation in homeland:(how the area is shown and what values are conveyed)

Carrie:

-Carrie is the main protagonist in the show which is quite big considering she's a women but because of this they wanted to make her a non traditional protagonist. To do this they gave carrie a mental illness, bipolar.

-She has an important job but she is seen by her supervisors as someone who needs to be kept an eye on. This, in effect, is telling the audience any women who have the same job as carrie need to be kept an eye on and or can be trusted.

Men in Homeland:

-All of the people above carrie, including the vice president, are men. They are all painted as very professional people. The vice president is see as cold and professional, Brody is seen as a war hero and also as very professional. He has to be because as soon as he gets to america he gives a speech to the media and other men/sergeants working for america before being able to spend proper time with his family. 

-In america there have only ever been male vice presidents and presidents up until when this was shot. Which explains why they have chosen a man to play the role of vice-president. Men make up most of the politicians. Now america has a women of colour as the countries vice president. 

Brody's Family:

-Brody's son when meeting his dad for the first time goes for a handshake rather then a hug before his sister encourage him too. This is the impact of toxic masculinity in america. This all happens at an earlier stage in his life as he is only 11, a child.

-The rest of the brody family, the female members, greet him with a hug, warmly. They openly show that they are happy to see him. Which is stereotypical representation of women and women in america.

Brody:

-Brody is conveyed to the media in the show as a hero and although this isn't the main part of why he is seen as a hero but he is more for being a man. 

Terrorism & America in Homeland (Nathan)

In America, there has been ongoing conflict in Afghanistan for many years, this conflict was near its peak at around the time that Homeland was released. Moreover, this series was released roughly 10 years after the tragic events of 9/11, when planes hijacked by Al-Qaeda members were crashed into the twins towers in New York. These events have created a lot of tension in the U.S and a sense of fear of people from foreign countries, I feel this fear is reflected well in Homeland. 

The impact of terrorist groups is shown in Homeland, when we are given an insight as to what Brody endured at the hands of Abu Nazir for multiple years; he is seen to be beaten multiple times and left in terrible conditions. This likely evokes a negative impression of eastern culture from the audience which reflects perhaps how most of the U.S feel after events such as 9/11. 

The 1993 World Trade Centre bombing is a good example of a terrorist attack which sparked American's fear of Islam, and generally anything 'foreign'. The perpetrator in this attack was Ramzi Yousef, Yousef detonated multiple bombs in the World Trade Centre which resulted in over 1,000 injuries and 6 fatalities. 

I feel we could apply all of this to Strauss' theory of binary oppositions. In the series Homeland, we have America and American culture represented as sound and as the side we should root for, whereas we develop negative ideas of the East and their culture.

7 - Muslims & Post 9/11 Climate 10 years on in Homeland ( gage)

• It seems to have impacted everyone in different ways. 
• Heightened suspicion of non-Americans in the United States, increased government efforts to address terrorism, and a more aggressive American foreign policy. Which links to brody being gone for so long turning into an enemy. 
• People like Carrie seem to be on edge about a lot of operations, including Brody's arrival and actions he has taken when being in the US.
• Extra precautions taken for people going to and from country's. An example of extra precautions being taken is when people go to and from country's they are unable to take any metal or food on planes and if someone is suspicious they will have a cavity search.  
• Racism - The after match of 9/11 left the Muslim culture in a negative way, as well as racist stereotypes impacting the people and the safety of the people.

Area 4: CIA and contemporary international politics (surveillance) in Homeland. (Luke)

The CIA in Homeland is represented as foolish and ignorant. This is shown when they just refuse to listen to what Carrie has to say about Brody. She notices things that are off about Brody and no one in the CIA is willing to listen to her. It is later shown however that she was in fact correct when it shows one of Brody's many flashbacks and Brody is shown sending a message via morse code using finger twitches.

Deception, relationships and fidelity. (Harvey)

Throughout Homeland, relationships have been portrayed as distant. Carrie is seen to be quite lonely and not have many close relationships. This is shown in the interview with Brody when they are asking questions about what he seen while being a prisoner. The deeper she goes with the investigation the further she gets with one of her only relationships. She loses the trust of Saul after he finds her setting up illegal cameras in Brody's house. She tries to quickly fix it by using her female attributes by getting all up close to him and holding him. He looks at her in disgust and walks out. Further more once Brody returns from war his relationship with his family is very distant. His children have to initiate hugs and conversations with him. Specifically his relationship with his wife is weak. She has been having an affair with his best mate and he is starting to realise something was or is going on. In the sex scene Jess can also be seen crying, further implying their weak relationship. 

Fidelity has been represented through Carrie's passion about her job. Her loyalty to her job and work is un matched by anything else. You can see this through the way Carrie acts. Van Zoonen is applied because her gender is represented as a male because of her actions. Her un stereotypical female appearance is demonstrated in the first episode when she comes back from a night out to go straight to work. She didn't shower. Girls stereotypically like to smell and look nice, so her not caring about it makes her fall under the male category. The fact that she prioritises work over female stereotypical things such as having a family or looking presentable represents her unmatched loyalty to her work. She even goes as far as losing or weakening relationships with important people such as Saul who was her mentor and put her on the field. Relationships and fidelity have been negatively represented in America through this. It implies things such as marriage aren't sacred and it's just a term used to imply love however it can be broken or ignored. This has been shown through the un loyalty through Jess and Brody's best friend as they are having an affair behind his back.

Deception has been represented as a way for evil and wrong doing to enter the USA. 
Brody is a key example of deception. Brody is trying to deceive the USA government, army and people. He has become a target to Carrie because of some info she received. He has been trying to deceive her  and lie to her to keep her off his trail so he can fulfil his goal. Through the flashbacks and him lying the audience is becoming weary and suspicious of him. He shows no emotion while lying further implying that he is committed to his goal. His deception has been influenced by the Al Queada. He has been a prisoner of war for them for 8 years. This creates negative representations of the people over there. They don't care about what happens to anyone else as long as they get their way. They have deceived Brody himself. They got him to kill his partner and now they have got him to infiltrate the USA to create a possible terror attack.

Violence in Homeland: (olly)

Violence is quite frequently shown within the first episode of Homeland. We can see numerous examples of violence at war as well as prisoner of war violence and sexual violence. 

The first example of violence shown within Homeland is when Carrie speaks to the prisoner in the Middle East. When Carrie is caught in the prison she is instantly captured and thrown around by the guards. They also brutality hit the prisoners arm sticking out of the cell window. This initial violence may have been used to represent the Middle Eastern guards/people as quite brutal and the enemy. This could be used to build on the previous perceptions of Middle Eastern people in the minds of American's after 9/11 and various other terrorist attacks. The violence is presented as being almost over the top and the guards used unnecessary force to apprehend the protagonist. This creates not only a negative representation of Middle Eastern people but also showing that they aren't afraid to use brutal, forceful violence. 

Another aspect of violence we see in Homeland is when Brody is forced to beat and eventually kill Tom Walker while they are captured by Al Qaeda. We see these graphic flashbacks throughout the episode of Brody inflicting various acts of torture and violence on his fellow prisoner. This extremely graphic violence is used to represent the terrorists as pure evil as Brody is being forced to beat his friend to death. The inclusion of scenes of graphic torture and violence in Homeland also show the desensitisation of violence in media within America. With extremely graphic scenes being seen as normal in films by society. 

Another example of violence in Homeland is the scene when Brody has nonconsensual sex with Jessica after he returns from being captured. This sexual violence is for the most part over looked and never brought up again in the episode. This could be representing America and it's views and values of women, is sexual assault/violence taken as seriously when it happens within a marriage by society? This act of sexual violence also represents Brody as dominant, uncaring and forceful.

Tuesday 8th March 2022

Homeland: Representation

L/O: to explore the theory in set products

15/03/2022

Homeland: Review and DIRT

L/O: to reflect on and improve analysis

Bandura's Media theory:

Bandura's theory talks about the idea of how media influence people directly or indirectly through social media. Media can influence the audiences to have a positive or a negative view on set texts. 

Industry:

Curran and Seaton Power and media industries theory:

Curran and Seaton theory talks about the idea of capitalism and the concentration of ownership in media industries and how they affect the media industry. The idea of Capitalism could link to the set budget used in media products like films,commercials etc, the idea of budget could emphasise the price and how expensive some media products are.

Hesmondhalgh Cultural Industries theory:

Hesmondhalgh cultural industries theory talks about the idea of ownership linking to curran and seaton's theory, as they talk about how power is used in media industry to reduce risks. Hesmondhalgh theory is more about the idea of ownership, the concentration of ownership helps to reduce risk such as : vertical integration and the reliance on established genres, stars and narratives.  

Livingstone and Lunt regulation theory:

Livingstone and Lunt's theory talks about the idea of Regulation and how they protect consumers/audiences from media. Ofcom regulates media products to protect consumers benefits in media, Media products are regulated in age, genre etc. 

Exam Question:

I believe that TV drama creates contracts between representations within characters and values, this can be seemed in homeland through various characters.

Firstly, Nicholas Brody is represented as a hero and a prisoner of war when we first see him in Homeland, this can be a contrast to his real side where he is the opposite of a hero but a villain. the duality between Good and bad could link to levi Strauss as his theory links to the bipolar oppositions for example, male and female, raw and cooked, hot and cold. Brody's personality and character is a opposition as in homeland we first see him as a hero but later on we see him as a terrorist.  Homeland focuses on the idea of good and bad throughout the series and this can be inked to the idea of West vs East, or specifically the Iran war.  American sees East as a threat as this can be linked to the 9/11 terrorist attack and how Osama Bin Ladan left American in shock for years, this fear has left to hatred in the middle east people. The idea of Americans being the hero and the middle east being the villains, this representation leaves east in a negative view.  

The Killing

Inspector Sarah Lund thought she was going to work one last day in Copenhagen before moving to a remote Swedish town with her boyfriend and young son. She was wrong. When a teenage girl's body is found in a car with links to a mayoral candidate's office, Lund begins what becomes a 20-day investigation into the murder. Each episode of this crime drama covers one day of the investigation.

Creator: Søren Sveistrup.

Produced by: DR ( Danish Broadcasting Corporation ) in co-production with ZDF Enterprises.

The first episode aired on DR1 on 7th January 2007. DR1 is flagship television channel of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). It became Denmark's first television station when it began broadcasting in 1951 – at first only for an hour a day three times a week.

Danish rating (DR1): 1,550,000

UK Rating (BBC Four): 472,000

Awards:

Robert Award for Best Danish Television Series

Robert Award for Best Actress in a Leading Television

Robert Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Television

Sarah

Sarah is the main character in The killing, she is a Police officer however after working with her team for 7 years she is retiring and moving to Sweden with her son and her Boyfriend.

Birk Larsen's

Birk Larsen is one of the main characters in the first season, he is known as the dad of Nanna however later on finds out his daughter is Murdered. He owns a company where he removes firm and his company is set in his own House. We find out in the first episode that he is moving to a bigger house with his family after living in a poor area.

Nanna's Friends

Lisa

Other

Troels Hartman

Politician

Dead wife having an Affair Secretary

Running for Mayor

Linked to Nanna's death

Deception + a spy

Tuesday 3rd May 2022

 

Analysis Task

 

Context - Denmark

Gender Equality - high ranking

Competition against Sweden

Class, education

Sarah meets Jan Meyer - Scene 1

Shots of objects - Gun poster (close-up) - Meyer Stereotypical

Child Photograph - Sarah Role of gender

Long shot of Meyer setting up his Basketball net on notes board- shows his lack of care in keeping clean and tidy

Sarah in the first scene is presented
Gender roles  

Meyer - relaxed, carefree, stereotypical male- sports/guns 

Lund - Surprised by Meyers actions/ Behaviour, carefully packing

Sound - Turns on music - Rock

Let's catch some villains - Unprofessional and immature 

Levi Strauss - Male vs Female

Ideologies - Female Superiority

Context: Gender equality + Priority + Progressive 

We see Sarah out investigating - Scene 2

Sarah driving

Lack of interaction between Sarah and Meyer shows how uninterested she is and how she is directing the dialogue, Sarah is more engaged in the investigation

Camera focused on Sarah throughout the second scene shows that she is more important and is the main focus in the second scene

Camera movements around Sarah could indicate the important role she has in the second scene

Sound - non-diegetic sound

Gender roles - Meyer is eating during the investigation shows unprofessional, Sarah is leading the investigation as she is more interested in the crime scene, this shows the duality between Sarah and Meyer

context - The idea of the gender roles are used to present the gender in films, most films would present females as powerless and damsel in distress, however, the killing breaks this representation and shows the true side of females, they are intelligent, independent etc. 

Introduction to the Larsen Family - Scene 3

Context - Working class

Street - Dirty, busy

Multiculturalism

Nuclear family - a loving, warm family

Close-up of the water on the floor could reflect the social class as well as the working class, houses aren't fixed, broken stuff

Lack of money could show the real side of working class life - they are repairing the dishwasher instead of buying a new one

Stereotypical roles in the working class - House wife - Theis being the man of the house

Positive side 

Close-up of the family photograph shows the importance of a loving family

Barthes Signs 

Close-up of the children photo - shows the family - family drawings on the wall

Housewife - close-up of the wet mop shows the need for the man to fix it, role of the female as the housewife - Pernille

Working class - Broken dishwasher, Vans/ Trucks - manual labour

Outfit - overall clothing - practical man 

context - the idea of social classes - working, middle and upper class

Troells Hartmann gains ground - Scene 4

Dirty politics - secret backers, plans, actions, having an affair

MES - Papers, meeting room, office - decorations, grande stairs- desks 

Sound - dialogue 

Class - Upper class - clean suits - dialogue - new shoes, watch

Representation of politics - bribery, lighting is low key shows the dark side of politics 

Homeland - High class in Denmark, more respect, both have elements of dirty politics, 

Audience theory - Gerbner: Cultivation theory

mean world syndrome applies to the representation of dirty politics - idea of danger from politics - bribery 

context - The idea of dirty politics could be linked to real life, how the elections are staged, people would bribery to get the most votes etc.

Sarah meets Pernille - Scene 5

Meyer is coming with direct questions whereas Sarah is taking her time looking for clues

Sarah - Careful, Approachable asking question that aren't confrontational, Sarah is welcoming and takes her time

Sound - Non-diegetic sound of piano keys playing - shows a mystery

Bell hooks Feminist theory

at a great disadvantage if you are a working class female - Pernille, therefore lacks power

Sarah is middle class + female = more powerful + respected

Context - Females are usually presented to be weak and powerless in films and series, this could because the media is controlled by the dominated group which they believe that females shouldn't be getting main roles in movies.

Tuesday 10th May 2022

The killing: Analysis

L/O: to analyse a variety of scenes using accurate terminology 

Larsen's begins to panic - Scene 6

Traditional gender

Stereotypes - Theis emotionally strong

Pernille is vulnerable - Dialogue: commanding

Facial expression in pernille

Context - traditional gender roles exists

Theory - Levi Struass - opposite gender roles

Butler - performing traditional roles - reinforcing

Tension via sound: Music, Non-diegetic + Dialogue

Sarah & her son car scene - Scene 7

Car represents the lack of stability as a family, pull between family and work, emphasis of the relationship between Sarah and her son

Mise-en-scene -

Weather - raining, sets the mood + lighting, dull

Phone - ignores the son to answer the phone 

Sound - Phone, dialogue, non diegetic music - emphasise this pull between family + work - sad tone to the scene.

Context - Social - MC - working + parenting struggling

Cultural - women work in Denmark

Theory - Butler, bell hooks,  van zoonen, Barthes

Investigation & search continues - Scene 8

Powerful - Stands up to Jan

Dialogue - calm, instructive vs - shouts, questions

shot from above - reveals - people who answer to Sarah

Tilt - to show power

low angle of Sarah - power

Mid shot to close up via zoom in focuses on her expertise

Sound - Radio confirms her instincts

Context - reveals that women in Denmark are respected + have powerful roles

Theory - Hall - ideology of women are successful

Sarah's Instinct - Scene 9

Close-up of Sarah's facial expression - shows the realisation 

Pan around Sarah

Extreme close-up of her eyes

Sound - non diegetic emphasises the discovery / realisation 

high note piano - indicates something wrong / something bad has happened - foreshadow

Gender equality - silence to take control, instructs fiance to take the flight without her

Context - women are respected

Discovery of body - Scene 10

Dark - mystery 

Mise-en-scene- car, pulled up, boot of water, still mystery

Don't see the body, imagine the worst 

crosscutting - to see emotion, helplessness of pernille, desperation

warm home vs dark dangerous outdoor 

Context - teen - culture independence + fear in society of violence + attacks

theory - gerbner - mean world syndrome - world is dangerous

Tuesday 17th May 2022

Viewpoints + Ideologies

Narrative Starter:

3 Characters - a detective, a mayoral candidate and the family of a murdered girl

The main character of the killing, is a retired detective who is moving to a remote Sweden town with her boyfriend and her younger son, however she is told to look into a case of a missing child, as her last case she decided to look deeply into this case, when she realised that this is going to be her biggest case ever. When the episode is evolving with the story explain the whole of the killing. We later find out that the missing child is a link to a family who is the Larsen family as well as the link to the Mayor Candidate. At the end of the episode, We see a car being pulled up from the river, to find out that not only is the missing child is dead but also, the car is owned by the Mayor Candidate, making him a suspect who murdered the child belonging to the Larsen family. The overall of Episode 1, is a great start for the audiences to understand what is happening and what will happen next, with a leaving climax, the 3 characters are developed enough for the audiences to understand the main characters in this series. However, this also leaves the audiences confused with whats going to happen next and also wanting to understand each character personally. 

Viewpoints + Ideologies

Narrative - Todorov 

1-Equilibrium

2-disruption

3-recognition of disruption

4-attempt to solve 

5-New Equilibrium 

Sarah

1-Mother, follows her partner, professional

2- Last case as a detective, could be her biggest case in her career.

3-

41-

5-

Troells

1-Heartbroken but driven

2- dirty politics, bribery, link to the murdered girl

3-

4-

5-

Larsens

1-Happy family - traditional family roles 

2- daughter is murdered

3-

4-

5-

Individualism - the habit or principle of being independent and self-reliant.

Consumerism -  Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts.

Patriarchy - a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is reckoned through the male line.

Ethnocentrism - Belief that your own culture is normal and natural and that other cultures are inferior and strange

Individualism: Sarah - thinking on her own, intuition, relies on herself, importance.

Consumerism: Troells - watches and shoes vs Larsen - dishwasher - need it, emphasise the idea of consumerism, rich vs poor - Levi-Strauss.

Patriarchy - Politicians are both males, mostly male policemen other than Sarah, Patriarchy is more dominated in Homeland. Larsen Family - Traditional family roles.

Ethnocentrism - office - critique of Sweden, joking about Sweden. Vagn - racist towards the Asian shopkeeper, Theis resolves the issue. 

1. She doesn't use her sexuality to get what she wants because she has confidence in her intuition and ability - When Sarah is investigation the crime scene in the forrest, ignores the man and follows her guts. close-ups of her face, in focus, camera always follows her.

2. Her female sexuality is not focused on - Sarah wearing more masculine clothes?

3. She is presented to us as a maternal figure - Sarah has a son who talks back to her, ignores her etc?

4. As Lund becomes involved in a murder investigation, her professional life takes precedence - When Sarah misses her flight and drops her son at grandmas. 

Victim - Nana, Pernille + Theis,  Troells: Pernille + Theis - Emotional, victims of trauma. Nana - Victim of murder, innocent

Politicians - Troells - makes change.  Mayor - corrupt politician

Police - Sarah - Professional, hardworking, caring. Jan - relaxed, lack of empathy, elements of superiority.

Swedish - comical, based in history- viking

Family unit - Family - Larsen - close loving. Lund - cold, stretched between work.

Racism - Vagn - negative, uneducated, untrustworthy.

Tuesday 24 May 2022

LFTVD: Exam practise 1

Audience theory: Jenkins: Fandom

Jenkin's theory the development of online media has allowed audiences to participate in media culture, adapting media products to crate their own content which is shared with online audiences.

participatory culture talks about the idea that the development of new media allows the audiences to be active and creative participants.

Audiences members become textual poachers taking aspects from media texts to create their own content.

Convergence culture - media is shared, adapted and consumed constantly on a range of different platforms.

Spreadable media - content that is adapted by audience members for their own purpose and shared with others.

Audience theory: Shirky: End of the audience

Technological developments have changed the relationship between media producers and audiences. In the past, media producers created content for audiences, now content can be created by audience. The idea of trending is a perfect example, in the media as we see daily content is created by people.

prosumer have different motivations to professional media producers.

This can create cognitive surplus, where potentially large number of people give their time and expertise to create something (E.g Wikipedia)

Audiences can no longer be seen as a single mass of people. Audiences engage differently with media products across different platforms, with some audience members now creating or adapting media products.

The first question will be a complex 30 mark question including a number of bullet points to help guide you.

You will be expected to show your knowledge and understanding of LFTVD contexts, analyse two set texts and use accurate terminology.

Social group

Class

Gender

Culture

Killing:

Class: Larsen Family - Poor: happy, aspirational, close family, loving, lack of money

Gender: Sarah - respected, determined, trustworthy - in the forrest scene - Sarah is determined to find clues 

Butler performative gender roles 

Social context: Females are respected more in the killing compared to Homeland

Homeland:

Class: Brody's Family: Upper: Unstable, secretive, rebellious and confrontational kids

Gender: Carrie - untrustworthy, determined, rebellious, lack power, focused and driven

Butler performative gender roles

Social context: Females aren't trustworthy and are not respected in the homeland

Tv drama DO represent social group's differently and this can be seen through gender and how they are represented differently in the killing and homeland. The killing has a positive representation of females as we see the main character Sarah Lund is presented to be trustworthy, determined and respected as this can be seen in the forest scene. Sarah is represented as powerful and controlling, with mid shots and Sarah being in focus and is positioned in the middle of the shot, Sarah is presented to have more power. Another example is through Dialogue, when Jan is explaining to Sarah that they searched the whole of the area, Sarah ignores his claims and follows her guts, this can be another link to determination and how professional she is at her job. This can be linked to Butlers theory as he talks about performative gender roles, he claims that gender isn't the only thing that can show identity but through their performance in their gender. Sarah is respected and is shown to be determined, through her professional work and her skills, that means she is represented as hard working character. Whereas, in Homeland, the duality between different representations is shown in homeland as Carrie is represented to be untrustworthy, rebellious and lacks powers. This is shown in the first scene of episode 1, when Carrie is tracking someone in Baghdad, The person in control of CIA is disagreeing with Carrie, she is presented to be untrustworthy.

07/06/2022

Media Language theory

Q4 10 marks

Evaluate the relevance of

3 main points of theory

Limitations of theory

x3

P1: Define the theory

P2: 1st reason

P3: 2nd reason

P4: 3rd reason

P5: possible limitations

P6: conclusion 

Barthes semiology theory:

Barthes theory is the study of signs, signs consists of a signifier and its meaning the signified.

Barthes theory follows two meaning : Denotation and a Connotation.

The denotation of a sign is its literal meaning ( the word 'Dog' is a mammal that barks )

Limitations:

Does not explain anything specific to LFTVD as it is a general theory of signification.

Less useful for analysing 'Macro' media language elements such as narrative and genre.

Does not talks about the ownership and control of television.

Homeland: Baghdad

Killing: Discovery of the body

Todorov Narrative theory: 

 

Narratology is the study of narrative: in this case the narrative structure - How the structure of the narrative is constructed to create a whole story 

Usefulness: 

Todorov's theory is suffienctly simple to be widely applicable, meaning that it is possible to identify the key elements  - equiliribum ( often implied) and disruption in LFTVD.

Todorov theory is very useful in teasing out the messages and values underlying a narrative, in pointing to the significance of the equilibrium and the new equilibrium.

Limitation:

was not designed to explain LF serial narratives but single narratives with resolutions, so does not explain complex narrative where climax and resolution are necessarily delayed and sometimes, in programmes that are designed to last many series, are never reached. The new equilibrium is never finished until the end of the story, even if the characters are dead, it doesn't fit LFTVD.

Homeland:

reference to 9/11

dangerous terrorist 

carrie investigating a spy

The Killing:

Investigation of murder

happy family

Moving to Sweden

Neale genre theory:

Genre theory is about what genres are, and about how and why they are created, change endure or decline.

Genre's uses generic code and conventions are shared by producers and audiences through repetition in media products.

This means that genres aren't fixed but are evolving with new code and conventions or becomes hybrid with generic codes.

Usefulness:

was developed primarily to explain film genres but can be applied to LFTVD as this is the most filmic form of television output, requiring an intertextual relay of pre-publicity and reviews to generate the large audiences.

Draws attention to processes of differences within repetition and hybridity in LFTVD.

Limitation:

Many LFTVDs have the recourses to rely on elements such as high production values, the star system, tone and exoticism rather than genre to market themselves, emphasising individual difference rather than generic similarity.

Homeland:

Female protagonist in spy thriller, mental health issues

The Killing:

interweaves 3 generically different narrative strands and then combines into fourth

Levi-strauss structuralism theory:

Structuralism is the study of the hidden rules that govern a structure. 

Binary opposition - that the system of myths and fables was ruled by a structure of opposing terms - hot-cold, good-bad, poor-rich

many writers have analysed media products using the idea of the binary opposition, but seeing the overall system of ideology.

Usefulness:

Can be applied to any cultural products including LFTVD

Can be used to analyse LFTVD narratives by analysing, for example, how they set up an 'Inside' and 'outside' opposition, asking the audiences to identify with the inside, and then some cases play around with this opposition to disorientate the audiences.

Limitations:

does not explain anything specific to LFTVD as it is an extremely high level theory of culture.

Does not tell us anything about the ownership and control of television.

Baudrillard postmodernism theory:

Usefulness:

Can be applied to any cultural product, including LFTVD

the theory may be celebrated in LFTVDs that refuse any simple identification of the real in the fictional world

Limitations: does not explain anything specific to LFTVDs as it mainly focuses on the theory of postmodernism world.

Homeland:

Maverick

consumerism

The Killing:

happy family

loss of family

racism in society

Tuesday 14 June 2022

LFTVD: Industry theory 

Curran and Seaton Power and media Industries:

Media ownership is the most significant factor in the way media industries work.

The concentration of media ownership means the media industry is dominated by a small number of conglomerates, which limits the viewpoints represented.

despise the development of online media the established major media organisations continues to be dominant.

Usefulness:

Studying television as an industry draws the attention on the forms and effects of ownership and control, the working practises of creators, the issues of risk and profitability.

Applies particularly to the international dominate of the american streaming services distributing many LFTVDS.

Limitations: 

This theory may not aid in understanding the ideologies, audiences choices or media language conventions may determine media content.

Homeland:

Produced by multinational conglomerates ( 21 century Fox )

Shown in the UK on Channel 4: National channel ( Meets OFCOMs demands for quality )

Netflix goes against the theory

  

The Killing:

DR7 is PSB Channel (National)

BBC4 - Niche channel, non-english language, alternative views - goes against theory

Hesmondhalgh Cultural industry theory:

The theory talks bout how Cultural industries follows the normal capitalist pattern of increasing concentration and integration - Cultural production is owned and controlled by a few conglomerates who vertically integrates across a range of media to reduce risk.

High risk = High cost

Big hits = Cover failure

Repetition of stars, genre, franchises, narratives - relate + repeat 

High risks in the cultural industry would mean high cost for the production cost, to avoids this, the conglomerates stick to what they know to reduce the risk of losing audiences. some of the ways they do this is through repetition in media products ( Repetition of stars and actors, genre, narrative, ideologies etc) to keep successful and own more money.

The internet is negative, as its not liberating or overpowered by producers but the owners.

Usefulness:

Talks about the ownership and control of televisions, such as the differences between the purely products and the public service ethos of most of the European producers.

draws attention to the issues of risk and profitability in LFTVDs,  the idea of high risks costing high budgets is mentioned in the theory to create a negative viewpoint of the owner of televisions.

Limitation:

The theory may not aid in understanding how ideologies, audiences choices or media language conventions may determine media content.

Homeland:

Had stars vehicles, high production values, popular genre.

Written for TV ( different to film ) once commissioned, will be shown

The killing:

DR was inspired by US quality drama to produce show runners like The Killing which was seen as a global success. Wa sold to 120 countries 

Unknown actors outside of Denmark.

Livingston And Lunt regulation theory:

Livingston & Lunt studies four case studies of the work of OFCOM.

OFCOM regulates TV in the UK.

Consumers have wants + needs + seek social or public benefits from the media. 

Consumers need protection from the media + regulation to promise public interest. 

Globalised media e.g streaming puts regulation at risk, OFCOM can only regulated in the UK.

Usefulness: 

Applies in part to LFTVDs produced by European public service broadcasters who may be regulated in the interests of citizens. 

Applies in part to LFTVDs produced by American cable and steaming services that treats audiences as consumers and, at most, are only lightly regulated to avoid them. 

Limitations:

the study of Ofcom was from a national perspective, so only applies to the consumption of these LFTVDs in Britain or to British LFTVDs.

Unable to regulate Netflix as it is not located in the UK. Voluntary to show the BBFC ratings issued.

Homeland:

American programme but shown on Channel 4

On Netflix

Series created by gordon and gansa based on an Israeli series, also created the series 24

Links to a show runner as the team behind the production are small and cited as successful. 

The Killing:

D7 is a PSB but non UK

BBC4

Tuesday 21 June 2022

L/O: to explore audience theories within LFTVD

Monday 27 March 2023

Question 3. 

Conventions 

Thriller

female - breaking conventions

good vs bad

Neale's theory fits - change in genre

viewpoints + ideologies

Homeland - East vs West - Levis Strauss

mental health - Hall

gender - Van Zoonen

Countries  America + Denmark

America:

Showtime - big budget - capitalist

Main protagonist - inferier 

Denmark:

1 series per season

DR - PSB - Benefit of public

Main protagonist - equal women

Theory

Judgement

Different viewpoints and ideologies from both of the countries therefore they are different to each other

Monday 24 April 2023 

TV DRAMA REVISITED

L/O: to revise key areas of the set texts

Brody - Terrorist, possible attack, Carrie fighting to prevent the attack and reveal to Brody as a terrorist

Jess and Mike affair - Jess moved on, Brody has changed, Betrayal, Social impact on war for family

Carrie's mental health - characteristics, weakness/flaw, judgements + choices, weakened as a powerful female

Dana and Chris kids - rebellious narrative, stereotype

Jess and Brody - relationship breakdown

Characters:

Brody - War hero, turned terrorist, suffers PTSD, family man

Mike - Brody's friend, Jess's new lover

Jess - Brody's wife, mother

Carrie - CIA agent, mental health issues, alone, obsessive, dedicated to her job, subverts + supports sterotypes

Saul - Mentor, friend

David - deputy director CIA

 

Barthes: Signs

costume reflects cultural differences and respect

desert and clothing - reflects culture, mainly men-cultural differences

yellow hue in the scene signified the run down element

cars - old represent lack of money

Ambient sound - cars, call to prayer - highlight the religion

Prison - run down, lack of order, violence as punishment, barbaric of the culture

Levi Strauss: Opposite

Shown via editing between the Scenes of Baghdad and those of DC

DC is crisp, clean, Middle class, Red bricks with wrought iron metal work

Baghdad run down buildings, show civilised vs barbaric

Gilroy: White superiority

In the Bagdad scene the culture is seen as inferior and barbaric, and therefore shows the ethic group as inferior to the white western superior representation of DC  

THE KILLING

Sarah Lund - Independent, driven, authoritative, respected, family, caring, listen to her

Denmark - progressive in gender equality

America - not progressive in gender equality

Sarah vs Jan       Sarah - Mature     Jan - Stereotypically male, immature

Sarah - Family photo, polite attitude, more professional, 

Jan - Basketball hoop, music playing, picture of guns, ball, toy car, smoking